Percy W. Thomas, Sc.D, Executive Director, is the founder and President of Success Behavior Institute (SBI). He received a Bachelors of Science degree from Maryland State College (University of Maryland Eastern Shore), a Masters of Education from Coppin State College (Coppin State University), and a Doctorate of Science Degree from Johns Hopkins University. He is a graduate of the Harvard University Institute for Higher Education, Senior Executive Program. He has a certificate from the League for Innovation in the Community College, Executive Leadership Institute, and a Certificate for Leadership in a Democratic Society from the Federal Executive Institute.

Dr. Thomas’ career includes conducting qualitative research on inner city gangs, and 35 years of working in local, state and federal government. He has more than 20 years of experience in Higher Education. He has worked in the private sector as a consultant in the areas of leadership development, change, training and development, and diversity and inclusion management. He has developed self-study and accreditation monitoring processes to assist colleges and universities in maintaining accreditation. And has been noted for his work with Lewis Brown Griggs, President of Griggs Productions for his work in his seven part award winning video series “Valuing Diversity: New Tools for a New reality”. Dr. Thomas is the author of the Cultural Rapport Model: Fostering Harmony in The Workplace and Power Steps: 10 Principles of Success.

Lyonel LaGrone, Jr., Program Director for Curriculum and Instruction joined NFHTA in January 2009.  Lyonel manages the day to day operations of the academy.  He also supervises the curriculum development process.

Lyonel brings a wealth of local and national civil rights, fair housing and fair lending education and enforcement experience to NFHTA.    Lyonel began his career 14 years ago as a fair housing tester working with the Fair Housing Center of Greater Grand Rapids, in Grand Rapids, MI.  He eventually assumed the position of Investigators Coordinator with the agency.   As the Investigators Coordinator, he managed many local and regional investigations that resulted in several discriminatory housing providers being brought to justice. 

Mr. LaGrone comes to NFHTA with a culmination of Civil Rights/Fair Housing experience encompassing a number of local and national private organizations as well as two notable local government Human Rights Offices: The DC Office of Human Rights and the Montgomery County Office of Human Rights.  Most recently while at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, he managed National Fair Lending Enforcement and Compliance testing projects, which were designed to detect the presence of illegal discrimination in our nation’s financial institutions.  He served as the Manager of the Fair Housing Council of Greater Washington, in Washington D.C., and the Fair Housing Department in the Montgomery County Office of Human Rights, in Rockville, MD.   While at the Office of Human Rights, he designed a Fair Housing Testing Program for the Montgomery County Office of Human Rights, which gained national recognition and earned Lyonel and his department the prestigious National Association of Counties Award (NACO) for “Civic Responsibility.” 

Lyonel has been chairman of the Housing and Economic Development Committee for the Washington, D.C. branch of the NAACP.  As an educator, he has taught Fair Housing courses for the Social Action and Leadership School for Activists (SALSA), Habitat for Humanity and many small non-profit organizations and community groups across the United States.  He has served as a fair housing curriculum development consultant as well as an affordable housing development consultant for many faith based institutions.   
Lyonel LaGrone earned his B.A. degree in Social Science from Aquinas College, in Grand Rapids, MI., and his M.B.A. from Strayer University in Washington D.C.  He also studied Sociology as a doctoral student at Howard University.